Family, Friends and Lovers
by SunrunnersFirebird
Summary: When B.J's sister Charlie comes to visit the 4077, her and Hawkeye immediately click and Hawkeye is forced to wonder if his feelings for her are appropriate. But his contemplations are cut suddenly short when friendly fire takes out Rosies bar cutting him, Charlie and a wounded Hunnicutt off from the rest of the camp.
1. Chapter 1

M*A*S*H 4077

When B.J's sister Charlie comes to visit the 4077, her and Hawkeye immediately click and Hawkeye is forced to wonder if his feelings for her are appropriate. But his contemplations are cut suddenly short when friendly fire takes out Rosies bar cutting him, Charlie and a wounded Hunnicutt off from the rest of the camp.

**1**

The door to The Swamp flung open with a crash and Hawkeye flew in the door.

"It's official!" he declared a smile spread wide across his face. Winchester moaned and rolled his eyes as he set the letter he was attempting to read down on his writing desk.

"Please, must you _constantly_ be so obnoxiously loud? I am attempting to enjoy a letter from home." He drawled pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Oh Charles, let the boy have his fun. What's official Hawk?" B.J said, stirring a martini and leaning against the still.

"I. Am in love!" Hawkeye said with a flourish falling backwards onto his cot.

"And, what's her name?" B.J said sitting down on the chair beside Hawkeye's bed.

"I have no idea" Hawkeye said his silly grin spreading even wider "new girl, just came into the compound. Saw her talking to Potter, Beej you should have _seen_ this girl! Beautiful long red hair, wearing yellow! Yellow! Do you know when the last time I saw yellow that was some jaundiced patient was?" he flopped down onto his back.

"Hold on" B.J said "red hair you said?"

"Uh huh"

"Small, pretty face, brown eyes, wearing a ribbon in her hair?" Hawkeye sat back up

"You've seen her?" he said. B.J's smile had become just as bright and excited as Hawkeye's and his eyes were glued to the door.

"I see her now" he said, Hawkeye could hear the laughter barely constrained in his voice as another, sweet and slightly British voice spoke from the door.

"hi B.J." Hawkeye looked over his shoulder to see the beautiful red haired girl leaning on the doorframe with a pretty smile on her pretty face. B.J stared for what seemed like eternity before he spoke slowly, as if savoring the words.

"Hi kid" he said and with no warning at all the girl at the door dove across the room in what seemed like a single motion and leapt into B.J's open arms. B.J laughed loudly and swung the girl in a circle encasing her in a bear hug that almost completely obstructed her from view. Finally he set her on her feet and held her at arm's length to look at her. He sighed

"You look beautiful" he said with an adoring smile. The girl smiled up at him for a moment,

"And you look ridiculous when did you get the horrible thing?" she said tugging on the corner of B.J's moustache.

"Hey" he said pushing her hand away "I happen to like it."

"Peg won't" the girl said.

"Sure she will! And if she really kicks up a fuss then and _only_ then will I shave it off, not when you tell me too." A loud clearing of the throat from Hawkeye's corner of the tent snapped B.J out of his excited haze. "Sorry!" he said "Charlie, these are my bunkies Charles Winchester and Hawkeye Pierce. Gentlemen, this is my _little sister_ Charlotte." Hawkeye caught B.J's eyes for a moment at the emphasis on the words "little sister" before he stood and shook the girl's hand.

"Charlie" she corrected "everyone calls me Charlie."

"Charmed" Winchester said grasping her hand in both of his "now if you'll excuse me, I have just witnessed Pierce make a fool of himself once again and now feel that I am emotionally prepared to choke down the afternoon gruel. Gentlemen, Miz Hunnicutt." He chuckled and received and evil glare from Hawkeye as he left.

"So, Charlie" Hawkeye said quickly, choosing to ignore B.J's smirk "how long are you staying with us in our little slice of hell?"

"Just a few days" Charlie replied sitting down on the chair "four at most, B.J won't let me stay any longer" she added looking at him over her shoulder "he didn't even want me to come. Hasn't seen his sister in forever and he didn't even want me to come." She shook her head.

"Charlie it's dangerous over here for you…" B.J started, Hawkeye could hear the "big brother" tone in the words, it was the same voice he used when he spoke to the orphans or particularly young patients, occasionally it even crept out when he was talking to Radar.

"It's dangerous for you too, Beej, contrary to what you might believe and besides, I'm here now so deal with it." There was a moment of awkward silence before suddenly Charlie's face brightened again "oh! I have gifts from home! I'll be right back." And she sprung from the chair and was gone. Hawkeye waited until she disappeared around the corner of the tent before he rounded on B.J.

"_That's _your sister! The sister you've been talking about all week? That's her!" B.J laughed and nodded Hawkeye stood up and looked down at B.J

"That's my kid sister" B.J said proudly and with humor in his voice.

"Kid? When you were saying kid before I was expecting someone who still had acne!" Hawkeye pointed out the window of the tent "she… she is no kid."B.J rose to his full height, and though Hawkeye was a tall man, B.J was quite a bit taller. Still with his devilish smile on his face B.J spoke pleasantly but with enough finality to stop the war.

"I suppose, but she is still a kid to me." Hawkeye blinked for a moment then smiled innocently.

"Of course" he said and just then the door swung back open and Charlie arrived with armloads of boxes and piles of envelopes.

"Hey hey! Look at this!" B.J said sitting down on the edge of the bed, the moment of tension completely forgotten.

Hawkeye shook his head and blinked then poured himself a martini and sat on the edge of his cot and watched as his friend tore gleefully into the various gifts sent from home.


	2. Chapter 2

**2**

Nearly three hours passed with barely a notice. The presents and letters and pictures were opened and enjoyed, martinis were poured and before long Charlie was curled up in the chair telling stories from home and listening to stories from Korea that had all three of them howling with laughter.

"And you should have seen the look on his face!" Hawkeye was saying through gales of laughter

"He was so mad at us!" B.J interrupted and the laughter broke out again. When it subsided enough to be able to hear Charlie spoke up.

"I'd love to meet this… what did you call him?"

"Ferret face" the two men chorused through laughter.

"You can't he went crazy and transferred out, Winchester is his replacement" Hawkeye clarified.

"Pressure of the job got to him?" Charlie asked

"No the woman he was having an affair with married another man" B.J said, and then he laughed out loud again "Hawkeye do you remember…. The wedding day?"

"Oh!" Hawkeye clapped his hands together "Okay you have to hear what we did to the groom…" but his words were cut short as the intercom crackled to life.

"Attention! All personnel wounded entering the compound by ambulance and jeep. First Medical Team to Triage. Doesn't look like too much but let's not count our chickens yet folks."

"Damn" B.J said as Hawkeye stood up. "look Charlie I'm sorry I've gotta go…"

"No, of course!" Charlie said with a smile "go on, go! Save lives, be a hero, I can amuse myself." B.J smiled and bent down to kiss her on the forehead before following Hawkeye out the door "thanks kid."

"I'm not a kid!" she called after him.

Charlie sat quietly in the Swamp tapping her fingers impatiently for a few more minutes before she pulled herself up and out the door.

She positioned herself a decent distance away and watched quietly and carefully as the doctors and nurses scurried about out front of the OR performing triage. She watched until the patients started getting shuffled inside then wandered away.

The compound was smaller than she had anticipated. She could understand why B.J often spoke of getting so bored when they weren't working. It didn't look like there was a whole lot to do.

After she circled the camp twice she found her way back to the VIP tent where she settled in to be bored.

A few hours dragged by before the door to her tent slammed open and B.J strode in and flopped down beside her on the cot like he used to do when they were kids.

"I could have been changing" she said dryly. B.J laughed.

"At which point I would have politely averted my eyes and come in anyway" he poked her in the ribs. She flinched away from him and squeaked. "Still haven't lost the accent huh?" He asked. Charlie shook her head.

"I tried. Spoke without it for a whole week, people didn't recognize me on the phone or anything… it just doesn't sound like me anymore." B.J smiled

"Even I'm used to it" he said "but it was weird the first time I talked to you on the phone in England… I could have sworn I got the wrong number." Charlie laughed and shuffled down so she was lying on her stomach at eye level with B.J.

"I'm bored Beej" she complained sticking out her bottom lip in a melodramatic pout.

"I tried to warn you there wasn't a whole lot to do here" B.J replied.

"So how bad were they?" she asked after a moment's pause

"who?"

"The wounded that came in." B.J rolled over onto his back and stretched his aching muscles.

"I've seen way worse" he answered honestly "it was mostly broken bones, a few belly wounds, one kid had a pretty bad chest… I'm a little concerned about him…" he trailed off for a moment his mind wandering back to the crater that had once been a 20 year old boys chest. He shook the image. "But your right" he said pulling himself up and extending his hands to Charlie and hauling her off the bed "let's go find something to do."

She smiled and let herself be lead out the door. They were met almost immediately by a Hawaiian shirt wearing Hawkeye.

"We're bored Hawkeye" B.J announced "thoughts?"

"Hide all of Winchesters worldly possessions while he's not looking and leave a ransom note?" Hawkeye suggested.

"Steal all of Margaret's clothes and leave her only one of Klinger's slips" B.J added.

"Switch the glasses of everyone in camp who wears them and let them all wonder why their eyesight suddenly got worse" Charlie piped up, both men smiled and laughed.

"Gee you can sure see the family resemblance" Hawkeye said with a laugh as he fell into stride with them. "oh hey, I've got an idea. Why don't we hit up Rosie's? show the lady our local nightlife?"

"Sure" Charlie said brightly

"no" B.J said

"yes!"

"No"

"maybe?" Hawkeye cut in.

"Rosie's is to rough" B.J said "besides you're not…" Charlie held up a hand to stop him.

"no, don't say it! First of all we're in the middle of a war, you've made that very clear, so I really don't think a bar brawl is the worst of my concerns. Second, I hardly think they are going to card me at the door and third I _am _old enough! So don't even go there! I'm not a kid anymore, just because you weren't there to celebrate the birthday that marked it doesn't mean I didn't grow up!" she stopped herself and the anger washed off her face. "Oh B.J" she said softly "I didn't mean that." B.J nodded, his eyes downcast.

"I know" he said. He took a deep breath "look, your right. But I… I'm really exhausted I think I'm just gonna head back and get some sleep."

"B.J no…" Charlie started, he waved his hand dismissively.

"No, its fine, I won't be any fun anyway, I'm beat you two go enjoy yourselves, maybe I'll catch up a little later." Charlie continued to stare at him "go!" he said smiling.

"Your sure?" she asked

"yes, go have fun" he shooed her away and turned to Hawkeye "take care of my sister, Hawk" he said his voice heavy. Hawkeye watched him go for a moment before turning to Charlie.

"he'll be okay, war really takes it out of a person" he said "come on."


	3. Chapter 3

**3**

The two of them were well into their fourth round of Saki and Beer and were laughing like maniacs when Hawkeye finally asked what he'd been dying to know.

"Okay, I'm sure you get this a lot, but why… why do you have an accent and Beej doesn't?" Charlie laughed over the brim of her Saki cup.

"It's a long story" she said. Hawkeye leaned over the table

"we've got time."

"well" Charlie started "it's actually part of the reason he still treats me like a child… I was a horrible kid!" Hawkeye laughed.

"you?"

"Yes! I was awful! The poster child of disobedience! My parents finally had enough and decided they needed to send me somewhere to whip it out of me. And since the military wasn't an option they settled for a British Boarding school instead. I was there from grade seven until I graduated, then I met some bloke, moved in with him and stayed for another two years. By the time I came back the accent had just stuck. Is that weird?"

"I think it's great" Hawkeye said. They smiled at each other for a moment "how about another round?" he asked.

"Are you trying to get me drunk, Hawkeye?" Charlie asked flirtatiously.

"Of course not" Hawkeye said in mock offence "I would never! B.J would kill me!"

"well that's you" Charlie stood and brushed past him to the bar, she leaned down to speak in his ear "I will just have to get you drunk then."

The two stumbled out of the bar their arms around each other several hours later, both of them giggling and falling over each other in an attempt to walk back to camp.

"I can't!" Charlie gasped through gales of laughter "I don't want to walk. I… I'm jus' gonna stop here." She stumbled to the side of the road and planted her feet.

"You can't!" Hawkeye said tripping after her.

"and why not?" she swayed on the spot slightly.

"Because" he draped his arm around her shoulders "y…you're holding me up, if you stop I'll fall down." This sent Charlie into fits of laughter again and the two of them trudged onwards. They only got a few more paces before Hawkeye tripped and went tumbling forwards into the grass. Charlie laughed and laughed until she fell down herself. Hawkeye gasped for breath and stayed lying on the ground.

"We shouldn't stop" Charlie said "you said so"

"I said we can't stop because I'd fall down. Well I'm down now, so I think I'll stay down."

"We look ridiculous" Charlie said "one sitting and one lying on the side of the road."

"Then lie down and we'll still look ridiculous but at least we'll be symmetrical" he slurred the last word rather badly, but Charlie understood and laid down next to him on the grass. They were quiet for a moment.

"Korea is a very pretty country" she said finally.

"It is, to bad its being torn apart."

"You know something?" Charlie started

"What?"

"I think you people are braver than the soldiers in some ways."

"You think so?"

"Yeah. The soldiers are just following orders, causing chaos, and pain, it's you guys that clean up after them. Fix everything up, put people back together. You do it under fire and crazy conditions and still manage to be people." She turned her head and looked at Hawkeye "I think it's admirable."

"Thank you" Hawkeye said "it's no picnic…"

"I know that, which just makes it all the more amazing. You know I almost became a doctor, decided against it, I'm sure now my family is glad I didn't but I wish I had gone through with it… then I'd be here, helping instead of just rotating on my thumbs at home waiting for news. I mean what if the 4077 got hit and B.J was hurt… or killed? If I were here I could at least help, back home I just have to wait for a letter from Colonel Potter saying my brothers been killed…" she trailed off, the idea was making her upset and ruining her buzz.

Hawkeye propped himself up on his arm to look down at Charlie.

"You're brother isn't going to get killed… I don't even think he'll get injured."

"You say that now. I watched Triage the other day, it scared me Hawkeye, there was more blood than I expected…" She took a deep breath to calm herself.

'I'm sorry you had to see that" Hawkeye said quietly, she looked up at him.

"It was my choice… besides, I know if B.J ever did get hurt, he'd be in good hands." She smiled and touched his arm.

"Exactly, you don't want to be a doctor anyway, like you said all the blood. You wouldn't want that all over your hands, it never comes out." He took her hand in his and kissed her knuckles. He released her hand but she held it lingering near his face. She brushed her fingers up his jaw to the back of his neck and curled them into his hair. Hawkeye's smile faded as he looked down at her. She was so beautiful, bright eyes and red hair spread out around her head and shoulders, and so close. He inched a bit closer and so did she, and before he consciously decided to, he leaned down and placed a soft kiss on her lips which she reciprocated gladly pulling him closer to her.

They kissed deeply for a few moments before Hawkeye suddenly pulled away and looked down at her.

"This is a bad idea" he muttered

"The worst" Charlie said lifting herself up to kiss him again.

"We shouldn't do this" he added kissing down her neck and shoulder and chest.

"You're right" she sighed in his ear and suddenly, he was out of excuses. He locked his arms around her little frame and pulled her body against his, lost in a haze of her hair, her smell and the taste of her lips on his.


	4. Chapter 4

**4**

Hawkeye wasn't sure how they got there but he woke up early the next morning in the VIP tent alone. His heart jumped into his throat and he made a mad dash for the door.

It was still quite early and very few people were around. After checking to make sure the coast was clear he made a beeline for the showers. He stripped down and stood under the, still warm, water hoping that it would drown away his guilt. He tilted his face up to the showerhead and groaned, what had he done? She was just so beautiful and sweet, and that voice, there was something about that voice that got to him, but she was so young… what had he been thinking? He didn't get a chance to even begin considering an answer before the door swung open and B.J stepped inside.

"Hey" he said

"Hey"

"Look I'm sorry I didn't go out last night, it's just Charlie's comment about my not being there kinda got me…"

"Oh that's fine" Hawkeye said quickly. A moment passed before B.J spoke again.

"Didn't hear you come in last night" he said with his little cheeky smile that, today, set Hawkeye's teeth on edge.

"Oh yeah… well I didn't."

"How late did you keep my sister out?" B.J asked as he stepped into the other shower stall and turned on the water.

"Pretty late" Hawkeye answered honestly. "Took her back to her tent and… ran into Nurse Joy on the way home." He pasted on his own signature cheeky smile and glanced over his shoulder to B.J who was smiling as he scrubbed down.

"Ah" he said laughing "Nurse Joy is something… if I weren't a happily married man…"

"Yeah" Hawkeye muttered, mentally beating himself as he finished his shower quickly. It was a rare occasion when he was anxious to get away from his best friend. They essentially spent every waking minute together and there had only been a few times in recent memory where they didn't want to be around each other, but for the first time in a long time Hawkeye wanted nothing more than to just get as far as he could from B.J Hunnicut.

He left the showers and wandered over to post-op, as he did he ran into Radar munching away on something.

"Oh hi Hawkeye" he said with a full mouth.

"Hey Radar, what are you eating?"

Radar looked around and then smiled up at Hawkeye as if telling a secret "Chocolate" he whispered.

"Chocolate!"

"Shh! Not so loud!" Radar hissed

"Where did you get chocolate?"

"Cap'n Hunnicut's sister" Radar said with a smile "she's a real swell lady, she's passin' the rest of 'em out to the patients in post-op now."

"She's doing what?'

"Oh, don't worry, Colonel Potter's in there makin' sure she don't give 'em to nobody with a belly wound or somethin'." Radar smiled like a kid and scurried off in the other direction as Hawkeye walked into Post op.

Charlie was just sitting down on the edge of a bed with a boy in it with bandages over his eyes.

"Who's there?" he said turning his head blindly "are you a nurse?"

"Oh, no. My name is Charlie" she said kindly "what's your name?"

"Cooper" said the boy "Corporal Marvis Cooper."

"Marvis Cooper. That's an excellent name" Charlie said, she gently reached forwards and brushed her fingertips along his bandages "Is this the only place you're injured?" she asked.

"Yeah" said Cooper sadly "the docs say I'm lucky… I sure as heck don't feel lucky."

"I guess I can get that. But you are lucky. You're still alive and functioning on your own, not in a wheelchair or anything. And just think about all the wonderful experiences that are in store for you!"

Cooper turned his head in her vague direction "What wonderful experiences?" he said sourly.

"Well" Charlie started "think how beautiful music will sound, or how nice warm water will feel, or how incredible food will taste without sight getting in the way!"

"I wish I could see you" he said "you sound beautiful." Charlie beamed

"Thank you" she said "so, Marvis, have you got a girl?"

"No." The boy shook his head "and I guess I'm not gonna get one now."

"Nonsense! Not only are you handsome, but you're a soldier! A man in uniform always goes over well."

"Yeah but who wants to see someone who can't see them?"

"Marvis, let me tell you something, there is something truly endearing about a man who tells you your beautiful just by the sound of your voice" Charlie said leaning a bit closer. Marvis' lips curved up in a smile "I don't think you're going to have to be worried about that department. Now I actually came to give you something." She reached into the purple tin sitting on her lap and pulled out a gold wrapped chocolate and placed it in Cooper's hand.

"What's this?" he asked

"Chocolate" Charlie replied "from a little candy store I used to visit as a child."

"For me?"

"Of course for you!" Cooper slowly unwrapped the chocolate and brought it up to his lips. He smelled it, smiled and popped it into his mouth.

"You see" Charlie said after a few moments "there are still good things in the world."

"She's right, son" said a voice at the foot of the bed "My name is Colonel Potter, I'm just here to tell you that your going home. On the evac. Bus first thing tomorrow morning."

"Oh Marvis!" Charlie laughed "congratulations! Did you hear that?"

"Home…" Cooper said quietly, as if trying to wrap his brain around the idea "I'm going home…" Charlie just continued to smile as Potter patted the boy's arm and made his leave.

"So where is home for you?" Charlie asked

"New York City" Cooper said proudly.

"Oh, I have always wanted to go there!" she shuffled a bit closer "tell me about it."

"Well if you really want to see the city you have to go to the bay and take a ferry…"

"I've seen the city in pictures" Charlie interrupted "I'm not interested in what it looks like. Tell me about how it smells, and how it sounds… what it feels like to live there." Cooper was quiet for a few moments and then he began to speak.

"It smells like salt and concrete… occasionally garbage, it's not really a good smell but its familiar you know? And it's really loud, it equally as loud there as it is here, just its car horns and people not shells and guns, but then you go into Central Park and it's like the world just goes on mute. It's so silent and peaceful in the middle of all that craziness…" Charlie closed her eyes and imagined what it would be like as Cooper continued to talk until a Nurse came by to change his dressings.

"New York sounds incredible. I'll go visit eventually."

"Drop in and see an old friend maybe" Cooper said "it would be nice to hear a pretty face." Charlie grinned

"I might just do that" she said "until then." She swooped down and kissed him on the forehead and tucked another chocolate into his palm before turning away.

All four doctors had gathered to watch the exchange, B.J was positively beaming with pride and winked at her as she brushed past. She paused for a second as she passed Hawkeye and caught his gaze before moving on.

Hawkeye paused at the door of the Swamp when he spotted Charlie sitting in his favorite chair picking at something on the arm rest waiting for him to come in. She looked up as the door swung shut

"Hello" she said. Hawkeye looked at her for a moment

"That was a nice thing you did in Post Op today" He said clicking out of his stupor and moving towards the still.

"I'm a nice person" she said as she stood up beside him "but you and I both know I'm not here to talk about that." Hawkeye paused in pouring his drink for a split second.

"Your right" he said quickly "about what happened last night…" he trailed off as he felt her hand moving up his arm and coming to rest on his neck. He glanced down at her holding onto the edge of the table for support, he stumbled over his words for a moment trying to get them out in the right order.

"Scratch that," she interrupted she turned him to face her "I'm not here to talk at all." She tip-toed and wrapped her arms around Hawkeye's neck and pressed her lips against his. After a second he pulled back.

"Charlie, what are you doing?" he whispered

"What does it look like I'm doing?" she muttered against his neck

"Something you shouldn't be."

"You said the same thing last night" she said and kissed him again running her hands over his chest and arms. Hawkeye closed his eyes and pulled her closer to him, his hands found their way around her waist and traveled up and down her back, and he kissed her more passionately than he should. After a few seconds he broke away again.

"We shouldn't do this" he said breathlessly between kisses.

"Are you sure?" Charlie asked kissing his neck and nipping at his ear.

"That's the problem" Hawkeye said "I'm getting less and less sure… have I ever mentioned, that I'm actually kind of afraid of your brother…" Charlie pulled sharply back and caught his gaze.

"Hawkeye" she said, she was close enough that he could feel her eyelashes fluttering against his cheek when she blinked. "Do me a favor? Shut up."

"Yes ma'am." He pushed her hair back and kissed down her neck and shoulder holding her tight against his body with his other arm, not even a breath of air between them. She tipped her head back and sighed briefly enjoying the feel of stubble against her skin, before catching his lips with her own. Still with their arms around each other, they awkwardly stumbled backwards and fell onto the cot. Charlie burst out in a chorus of giggles

"Well that was graceful" she said.

"Grace is not my strong suit" Hawkeye said, leaning over her a hand resting on the back of her neck and placing one kiss to the center of her chest. Charlie pulled herself into him crawling into his lap and curving her body into his. She kissed him, his throat, his neck, his ear, his lips, any part she was close enough too. After a second he pulled back once more "will we be caught?" he asked. Charlie smiled

"Winchester is in post op and I convinced the Colonel to paint B.J." she placed a lingering kiss on his lips and pushed her fingers through his dark hair "we won't be interrupted."

Before he could think too long about consequences, Hawkeye gave into the moment and closed that last few inches of space between them, kissing her deeply as the two of them laid back on the cot. He reveled in her smooth skin and sweet smelling hair and she reveled in his strong soldiers body and gentle, doctors, touch for as long as they dared; neither one of them bothering to stop long enough to think about what was supposed to happen after.


	5. Chapter 5

**5**

Hawkeye stood at the doors to post op quietly. He could see B.J inside smiling down at a patient and he was struck again with a wave of guilt.

He had left her just half an hour ago, he hadn't felt the guilt while he was with her, high on everything that was happening between them, and he felt fine on his way to Post-Op to check in on Winchester, it wasn't until he saw B.J in there poring over the chest-case's chart that the guilt hit him like a blow to the stomach. This was his best friend's little sister that he was fooling around with! and he was overcome with how horrible the whole thing made him feel. She was so much younger than him, which felt wrong to begin with especially since he _knew_ that whatever was happening between Charlie and Hawkeye was nothing more than a short lived, war-induced fling, like everything else he did. He was hurting himself, his best friend and Charlie all at the same time, and every time he saw B.J it made the self-hatred fresh and raw again.

He was lost in his thoughts, he knew somewhere in his mind that he had to push open that door and go in, but he couldn't make his muscles respond. His brain was too busy being stuck somewhere between wanting to take himself out to the mine field for some self discipline or take himself back to Charlie's tent.

"Hawkeye" said a voice behind him. He snapped from his daze and looked over his shoulder.

"Father' he said as Father Mulcahy approached.

"Is anything wrong?" Mulcahy asked standing beside him.

"Yeah" Hawkeye said with a sigh

"A patient?"

"I wish it were that simple" Hawkeye chuckled dryly. "You know, sometimes it's almost easier to look at a boy and say "you've lost your leg but you've won your life" than it is to look at a pretty girl and… and know that in order to do the right thing you have to break her heart."

"Ah, I see, is it one of our nurses?" Mulcahy asked

"Again, I wish it were that simple. Normally I would talk to B.J about this kind of thing but this time…" he trailed off

"Well, how about talking to me" Mulcahy suggested brightly.

"No offence father, but I don't think this is the kind of problem you can help me with."

Father Mulcahy's smile dropped. He raised his chin and folded his hands in his typical quiet fashion.

"Answer me something Hawkeye, do you think me an unintelligent man?" Hawkeye looked at him suddenly, taken aback by the question.

"Of course not! Why would you say that?"

"I get the impression that you, among others here, feel that because I am the Chaplin, I am incapable of advising on… matters of this nature." Mulcahy's voice was calm and level, and Hawkeye kept silent, not wanting to admit, that was exactly how he felt. "I was not born in the collar, Hawkeye" Mulcahy said, the corner of his mouth curling up and his eyes twinkling. "In fact quite the opposite in my younger years, and though I may not be as… well versed… as certain other people I am not naïve, nor am I unobservant; and it is my, admittedly, unprofessional opinion that if what you are doing is causing you such turmoil that you cannot speak to your best friend about it..." he leaned forward and rested a hand on Hawkeye's arm "then I think it's time for it to stop. Even if a few hearts must break, they'll heal again just like the rest of the body… don't you agree?" he made to leave before pausing. "And one last thing… I got it figured out and B.J is a lot more… well versed than I. food for thought." And then he just sort of floated off in his typical day-dreamy way, leaving Hawkeye alone to spin around in his own thoughts, wondering just how Father Mulcahy figured out his secret. Eventually he got up enough courage and pushed open the door, B.J was there immediately.

"Hey thanks Hawk" he said handing him a clipboard and smiling like a big goofy kid "Charlie brought Chutes and Ladders with her, we used to play that all the time when we were kids! I haven't seen it in years!" he clapped Hawkeye on the shoulder and bolted from the room. If Father Mulcahy was right, and B.J did know what was going on, he certainly didn't show it.

At about 1900 hours a barrage of casualties came in, massive overflow from the 8063rd. The whole compound was hopping for close to seven hours before they finally had the chance to fall, exhausted, into their cots. Hawkeye, B.J and Winchester shuffled into the Swamp and tumbled unceremoniously into their respective corners sleeping until late the next day.

When Hawkeye woke up B.J was already gone, donning a layer of clothing and blinking sleep from his eyes he dragged himself out the door and went looking for Charlie.

Charlie was curled up on her cot in the VIP tent reading a magazine she'd brought with her. B.J had gotten up early despite the mad rush of last night and they had breakfast together before he wandered off to his shift in post op leaving Charlie alone and bored again. She looked up as she heard a gentle tapping at her door.

"Come in" she said. She door swung open and Hawkeye gingerly stepped inside. Charlie smiled brightly and tossed the magazine aside. She stood up to meet him shoving the door shut.

"Charlie, I need to talk to you." He said

"Must we start all of our meet and greets with the same sentence?" she said wrapping her arms up around his neck. He ducked out of her arms and held them firmly away from him.

"We actually need to talk this time." Charlie looked at him with questioning eyes. Hawkeye took a breath before speaking "this needs to stop." He said it as bluntly as possible, he didn't want to have to drag her through the rocks any more than was necessary.

"What do you mean?" she asked smiling slightly,

"This… us… whatever this is it needs to stop."He couldn't think of a clearer way to put it, he let go of her arms hoping it would drive the message home. It didn't, instead she stepped closer to him and took hold of the edges of his jacket, pulling herself closer.

"I'm only here for another two days" she said tipping her head back to look up at him, her hair fell away from her neck in the motion. "Well, a day and half now, it took you long enough to come find me." Hawkeye placed his hands on her waist and tried to push her away, leaning back as best he could.

"Yes, and you should be spending those days with your brother, not me."

"I am" Charlie said, she wrapped her arms around his neck again and rose up onto her tip-toes to kiss him on the neck "but he's not around all the time" another kiss "he's not here now."

"Charlie stop it" he said weakly, he wanted nothing more than to pull her tightly into him and never let go, but instead he pushed her back. "Just stop, don't you understand? Whatever this is, it's wrong."

"Wrong?" she asked frowning "how can it be wrong?"

"All this sneaking around and hiding… not to mention the age difference…"

"Age difference?" Charlie interrupted, "that's not fair…" Hawkeye carried on ignoring her interruption.

"And we're both betraying B.J"

"What he doesn't know can't hurt him Hawk…"

"But that's the point! Don't you see? I'm lying to my best friend. You're lying to your big brother, we're lying to each other because we both know this had to end when you went home anyway…"

"So let it end when I go home!" she barked "why cut it off early?"

"Because as much as it stinks, it's the right thing to do" Hawkeye said. This time Charlie stepped away from him, she placed her hands on her hips in the same way as B.J.

"Need I remind you that _you _kissed me first" She hissed.

"I know and if I had the chance to go back I wouldn't have." Charlie's jaw dropped and Hawkeye mentally kicked himself. "That's not what I meant. Not that I didn't want to! I did want to I just didn't mean it… or I did mean it, I didn't mean that…" every word that bubbled forth seemed to be wrong and each one made the pain in Charlie's eyes grow deeper.

"Well" she with surprise and hurt in her voice "it's good to know how you feel about me."

He stopped and took a breath before continuing. "I didn't mean that. I care about you Charlie, more than I'd like to admit. But this just can't work, it isn't right." Charlie's eyes were brimming with tears and her jaw was clenched, he could see her shaking and staring at the doorframe, and part of him braced himself for a slap he so rightly deserved. He stepped forward instinctively and reached out a hand. She jerked away and looked up at him with so much anger in her pretty face.

"don't touch me" she spat, her voice low and hoarse. "You son of a bitch, don't ever touch me." She shoved past him and burst out the door slamming it behind her.

She took off through the compound running blind, she didn't really care where she was going. She rounded a corner and slammed headlong into someone. She stumbled away and looked up to see the units Chaplin looking at her in alarm.

"Sorry father" she said.

"That's quite alright. You're Charlie right? B.J's sister?"

"Yes" she answered curtly, she was in no mood for polite introductions.

"I'm Father Mulcahy… gracious me, are you alright?" he asked concern suddenly lined his boyish features.

"I'm fine" she said quickly before taking off again, off in search of a place where she could be alone.


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N so I am so sorry that this took so long guys... evidently I royally suck at updating... one thing led to another and it just got left behind, I'm not going to give you a bunch of excuses or tell you my life story I'm simply going to give you the rest of the story... that's right... It's been finished and hanging out on my computer for months just waiting to go up... so here you go 6 new chapters and one completed story. Kindly read and review each chapter if you want or the story as a whole... I do love getting reviews and it makes me happy to know someone out there is reading this.  
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**I like to think I handled the relationships pretty well in this story... specifically the one between B.J and Hawkeye... one of the greatest bromances to ever grace television... nothing before or since has held a candle to it... and I wanted to do it justice :)  
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**enjoy :)  
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**6**

"Have you seen Charlie?" B.J asked loudly as he entered the Swamp later that afternoon. Hawkeye looked up at him,

"I uh… I ran into her outside the VIP tent a little while ago, talked to her for a few minutes and I haven't seen her since" he said choosing his words carefully.

"I've been in Post Op and I haven't seen her all day, she's not in the VIP tent" B.J said putting his hands on his hips and pursing his lips "where could she have gone?"

"Wait, she's not in the compound?" B.J shook his head

"I can't find her…"

"Okay, alright, let's go take a look, there isn't exactly a whole lot of places she could be" Hawkeye said pulling himself up from his cot.

"Unless she was stupid enough to leave the camp" B.J said catching Hawkeye's gaze.

"She wouldn't, would she?"

"You don't know my sister Hawk, she does this, one time she ran all the way to England."

"Okay, well, we'll find her." He didn't mention that he already knew the story of England and perhaps he knew Charlie a little better than B.J thought.

They had been searching for just a few minutes before finding Father Mulcahy leaving the mess tent.

"Father" Hawkeye said catching his arm.

"Have you seen my sister?" B.J interrupted.

"Charlie?" Father Mulcahy said quietly "yes, I do believe I spoke with her about an hour ago. She came flying out of nowhere… almost knocked me clean off my boots" he smiled boyishly for a moment then his smile dropped, he glanced and Hawkeye before he spoke again. "She seemed very distraught about something, I tried to ask her what was wrong but she disappeared, I assumed she had gone to see you" he gestured at B.J.

"I haven't seen her all day" B.J said.

"Very well, I'll help you look, she can't have gone far." Said Mulcahy patting B.J's arm.

"Thanks Father, could you look around here? Hawk lets go Check Rosie's"

"Rosie's?" Hawkeye asked

"yeah, if she was stupid enough to leave the compound she would have at least gone somewhere she recognized and Rosie's is the only place around here she knows."

"Your right, lets go" Hawkeye said, and B.J took off. Hawkeye paused for a moment as Father Mulcahy caught his gaze knowingly before turning to check out the camp and Hawkeye ran after B.J.

B.J parted the curtain and stepped into Rosie's, and the Lady herself met him at the door.

"You!" she shouted "You brought little girl here two nights ago and now she is here and won't leave!" The tiny Korean woman stood within inches of both B.J and Hawkeye "I want to close my bar!" she shouted "but weeping girl won't leave!"

"Rosie" B.J spoke over the shouting barkeep "Look, we'll close for you okay? We've done it for you before..."

"Fine!" Rosie snapped throwing a rag at B.J "I am going for a long walk and if both you Joes and weeping girl are not gone when I get back, I will throw all of you in Mine Field!" and with that she shoved past both men and out into the quickly fading light. Hawkeye and B.J exchanged a look before B.J walked slowly into the bar.

Sitting in the farthest most secluded corner she could find was Charlie slumped over a table and rolling a toothpick between her fingers. Hawkeye hung back as B.J walked towards her.

"Hey" he said as he approached the table

"hi" she mumbled. B.J pulled a chair over and sat down next to his sister.

"What's wrong, kid?"

"I'm not a kid" She practically snarled. B.J exhaled slowly and nodded.

"What's wrong, Charlotte" he corrected. Charlie raised her head enough to look at him. She pushed her red hair behind her ear and stared at her brother.

"How did you find me?"

"Hey, let's remember you came to Korea and found me" B.J said leaning closer and talking in lower tones. "I wasn't about to let you out of my sight."

"Right" she said.

"So, what's wrong?" Charlie took a huge breath in through her nose and raised her head pushing her hair over her shoulders. She spotted Hawkeye standing in the doorframe trying to be inconspicuous and she glared at him.

"It's..." she started then paused and her gaze softened as she looked at B.J "It's just that… I'm going home in a few days and… and you're not." Her voice cracked a bit. "You're still going to be here and… B.J I watched Triage the other day, I saw the kinds of wounded you get here! And all I can think about is how you might_ be _one of those wounded!" Tears were beginning to well up in her eyes and her voice was squeaking as she tried to hold them back. "And I'm scared; I'm really scared for you. What if you never come home! I don't think I would survive because…" she choked for a moment as the tears broke free of their barrier and fell down her face, "because as much as I hate you, you drive me crazy and treat me like a child, your still my big brother and I love you and I miss you and I want you to come home!" B.J's own eyes were filling up as he pulled Charlie into the type of hug that only a brother could give and let her cry into his shoulder.

He spoke after a few moments, his own voice raspy with choked back tears.

"I'm not on the front lines" he said "I'm just a doctor, just like I've always been; just with more interesting patients is all. I'm fine Charlie" he pushed her back so he could look at her. He smoothed back the hair that had fallen in her face. "I love you too, kid, and I am definitely coming home. I promise you that." And he pulled her back into the hug, this time for his own benefit. They cried together for a few more moments before B.J glanced quickly up at Hawkeye.

"And listen" he whispered in Charlie's ear "try and not be too hard on Hawkeye okay?" Charlie pulled sharply back just enough to look at him with shock in her eyes. "I know he wasn't trying to hurt you, just trying to do right by me."

"You knew?"

"I've know about every boy you've ever been with, even the ones in England" B.J said smiling "I'm your big brother, it's my job."Charlie giggled.

"That's creepy Beej" she said quietly.

"Hey" Hawkeye said suddenly from the door, he walked towards the table staring up at the ceiling "I hate to break the moment but listen"

"What?" Charlie asked.

"No" B.J said in barely a whisper as he heard the whistling outside. Three booms echoed around the building, sounding like they were hitting the MASH compound across the road. Four more went off each one louder than the last.

Hawkeye shouted something inaudible over the noise, B.J sprang to his feet and hauled Charlie up by the hand. The three of them didn't make it halfway across the room when suddenly there was nothing but heat, and noise and then darkness.


	7. Chapter 7

**7**

With a groan Hawkeye pushed himself into a sitting position, bits of dust and rubble fell off him in the motion. He gave his head a shake as Charlie moaned from somewhere behind him. He managed to pull himself to his feet and stagger blindly towards the source of the sound.

"Charlie?" he called into the darkness.

"Here" she said. Hawkeye squinted as her figure moved towards him. He caught her by the shoulders as she met him and pulled her into the minimal light.

"Are you okay?" he asked.

"I think so… something cracked me on the head" she weakly. Hawkeye pushed her hair away from the source of the bleeding with one hand and dug a pen light out of his pocket with the other. He clicked it on and shone it on her head and took a look as closely as he could at her wound.

"Doesn't look like its cracked." He shone the light quickly into both eyes "are you dizzy?"

"No more than to be expected" Charlie said, the weakness in her voice had gone. "I've had a concussion once before, it doesn't feel the same." Hawkeye touched her face looking directly into her eyes.

"You're sure" he said, Charlie nodded, "Okay, where's B.J?"

"I don't know, B.J!" Charlie said looking around her.

"B.J!" Hawkeye called out. The two of them separated and started searching through the dark and rubble that had once been Rosie's bar "come one Beej" Hawkeye muttered "B.J make a sound I can't find you!"

"B.J!" Charlie's voice was starting to sound more frantic. Hawkeye kicked a half exploded table out of the way and froze. For a split second his breathing stopped and his heart quit. The world just got stuck on the image of his friend lying on the floor, barely visible beneath heaps of rubble. For a second Hawkeye couldn't get his feet to move, and then suddenly it was like everything got thrown into high gear, he bolted forward diving over piles of rubble and falling to his knees at B.J's side calling for Charlie as he did.

B.J was laying on his back with one arm flung over his head and the other pinned awkwardly under his body. The rest of him from his stomach down was completely covered by the entire back wall that had fallen in basically one piece directly onto him. Charlie let out a cry of fear behind him as Hawkeye leaned over his friend. He lowered his ear low over B.J's mouth and listened until he felt the tickle of breath on the side of his face.

"He's breathing" he announced "barely but he's breathing". He couldn't quiet decide if he said it for Charlie's benefit or how own. "B.J!" Hawkeye shouted giving him a shake. "Hey! Wake up, come on wake up!" he gave him a sharp slap across one side of his face and B.J's eyes sprang open and he took a great intake of breath and exhaled it all in a groan of pain.

"Hello" Hawkeye said "welcome back to hell, thought you were gonna get away for a minute there didn't you?"

"Wouldn't dream of it" B.J said through his teeth then suddenly looked straight at Hawkeye "Charlotte, is she okay?"

"Yeah, yeah she's here, she's fine…" Hawkeye said "Charlie." Charlie appeared on B.J's other side shoving bits of rubble away, she dropped to her knees and leaned over him.

"Hey" she said. B.J reached up and touched the blood in her hair. "t's fine, Hawkeye says it's just a cut." B.J nodded as Charlie held tightly onto his hand. "Gosh, look what you've done now… you've gone and dropped a house on yourself" she said giggling and trying not to cry.

"Stupid me" B.J whispered.

"Hey Beej… how do you feel?" Hawkeye interrupted afraid to wait any longer.

"Dizzy" he said "left shoulder hurts."

"Okay, what about the rest of you?" A dark fearful look came over his dust covered face as he looked up at Hawkeye.

"I… I don't know I'm…" His eyes fluttered shut and his head lolled slightly.

"B.J!" Hawkeye reached over and grabbed B.J's face in both hands "don't pass out" he demanded "You can't pass out you know that."

"I know."

Hawkeye rocked back on his heels and pushed a hand through his hair.

"Okay first thing we need to do is see if we can't get out of here" Hawkeye said, he looked up "Charlie, can you do that?"

"I'm not leaving him" she said stubbornly.

"Charlotte" Hawkeye said gently "we need to get your brother back to the compound but until then he needs _me_. You need to either find a way out or find a way to contact MASH. Okay?" Charlie looked at him, there were stripes of skin peeking through the dirt that had been cleared away by tears. She gritted her teeth took a breath and let go of B.J's hand.

"I'll be back" she whispered to him and she brushed past Hawkeye and disappeared.

"Okay, just you and me Beej." Hawkeye shuffled closer pulling off his jacket. He bundled it up and propped it under B.J's head "I need you to focus." He said giving his friend another shake. B.J looked at him and Hawkeye shone the penlight in his eyes. "Okay I don't think you have a concussion" he said "are you still dizzy?"

"If I don't move I'm okay…" B.J said. He took and a breath and blinked a few times lifting his head "alright, left leg, it's tingling a bit, right leg hurts pretty bad." His head fell back against the makeshift pillow and he exhaled painfully with the effort. "It's this that really kills" he said indicating his left arm pinned beneath his body.

"Okay, your one leg could be broken and this…" Hawkeye said, he gave his friend a look and squeezed B.J's shoulder gently. He cried out and his whole body tensed under Hawkeye's hand "this is dislocated" he finished.

"yeah." There was a moment of silence.

"How lucid are you Beej…honestly?"

"You mean, can I decide for myself or do I want you too?"

"Basically."

"And we're deciding to move the rubble now or wait for MASH" B.J said. His voice was strained with pain but coherent. Hawkeye readjusted so he was sitting cross legged.

"way I see it," he started "one leg could be broken and the other one is having its circulation cut off, if we leave you until MASH finds us, which can't be too long granted, you could cause some pretty serious damage to both legs..."

"But I could have any number of breaks or even a spinal injury I'm not noticing… moving me would make it worse." B.J finished

"Exactly, so what do we do?"

"There is no way out" Charlie said reappearing. Hawkeye felt the panic rise up in his throat as the thought of being trapped set in. Images of the air escaping and all of them choking to death started to appear in his mind.

"Hawkeye?" Charlie said. Hawkeye blinked and looked up at her.

"I heard" he said, his voice more strangled than he expected. He forced his attention back on B.J.

"We won't know how bad the damage is until we move you" he said.

"But whatever damage there is could be made worse if we do."

"So what do you want to do?"

B.J closed his eyes for a moment then opened them and took a long look at Charlie then at Hawkeye.

"If you dig me out at least you can see what's wrong, you can't fix what you can't see." Hawkeye gritted his teeth and nodded pulling himself to his feet.

"Charlie I'm going to need your help" he said, Charlie stepped forward and Hawkeye jerked away "Just, don't stand to close" he said, knowing somewhere in his mind that he was being completely unreasonable.

It took what felt like forever to move enough of the rubble to get at the one big slab of wall lying across B.J's lower half. Hawkeye was crouched down next to it hanging on with both hands and Charlie had positioned herself at B.J's head.

"Okay" he said "This has to be done in one fast, smooth motion" Charlie wrapped one arm around B.J's chest and hooked the other under his good arm. "On three" Hawkeye said "one, two… three!" Hawkeye pushed himself up with a great heave of effort taking the piece of wall with him and Charlie pulled her brother backwards into a clear space. B.J was gasping in pain and a trail of blood followed him out from under the rubble. Hawkeye let it drop with an almighty crash and he tackled B.J's legs. The one was alright, just asleep, but the other had a long deep cut starting above his knee and curving down into his calf.

"Beej you got your pocket knife?" B.J nodded and Charlie reached down into his pocket to grab it. She tossed it to Hawkeye "Charlie, take off your sweater and toss it and my coat over here." Charlie did as she was told then sat back on her knees cradling B.J's head in her lap.

Hawkeye clicked open the knife and cut open the leg of B.J's pants to expose the wound.

Hawkeye threw on a smile "you see look at that! That is a nice leg!" he joked brightly. B.J made a face that was somewhere between a smile and a grimace

"Careful soldier, I charge for comments like that." He said through his teeth. Charlie shook her head at him.

"Ah, it's not so bad, Charlie, toss me my coat and your sweater." Charlie pulled off her sweater and passed both garments to Hawkeye who tied them tightly around the cut. B.J made a growling noise clenching his teeth so hard they almost squeaked.

"Charlie push him up." He stepped over B.J and crouched at his left side "that was the easy part" he said looking his friend in the eyes as Charlie helped him into a sitting position "you ready for this one Beej?"

"Can't say I am" he replied as he wrapped his good arm up around Hawkeye's shoulders. He clenched a handful of t-shirt in his fingers and took a deep breath. Hawkeye gripped his friend's upper arm and shoulder. "Ready" B.J said and with no warning at all Hawkeye threw all his weight into shoving the shoulder back into its socket. B.J let out a roar of pain like an animal and clenched Hawkeye's shirt so tightly he felt the fabric tear in his hands. Hawkeye held onto B.J and rubbed his shoulder.

"You're okay" he said still hanging onto him and rocking slightly "your fine, you're through the worst, now we just have to wait for MASH."

"You bastard you could have warned me" B.J snarled into Hawkeye's shoulder.

"You seemed as prepared as you would ever be" Hawkeye replied. He glanced up to check on Charlie but she had disappeared.


	8. Chapter 8

**8**

Hawkeye worked his way around the rubble. Every time something grazed his arm or came too close to his face he felt his breath catch and his chest get suddenly tight, he had to fight of the urge to curl up in the emptiest space he could find and hyperventilate until the rest of MASH got to them. However, his fears seemed particularly irrational when B.J was lying in the dust with a ripped open leg and an only recently re-located dislocated shoulder.

When he managed to weave his way back to where B.J was, he found that Charlie had returned, she was sitting with her knees pulled up to her chest staring down at B.J who's eyes had fallen shut. She looked up as Hawkeye approached, her face was blank.

"He keeps falling asleep" she said quietly "isn't that a bad thing… should I wake him?" Hawkeye knelt down and checked B.J's pulse as well as his breathing. He rested his hand against B.J's forehead, he was a little warmer than he ought to be but Hawkeye pushed that out of his mind, he couldn't think about the possibility of infection just now.

"His pulse is strong and he's breathing alright… he should be okay to rest for a bit, I'll wake him in a few minutes" Hawkeye said as he shuffled away from both of them, the proximity was starting to make his heart beat to fast again. After a moment he looked at Charlie "are you okay?"

"Yes" she said "I haven't got a choice, have I? I don't have time to be scared." She went quiet again for a moment "but you know, I've never seen him cry… not once even when we were little, I was always the emotional one."

Hawkeye hesitated a moment before speaking "I have." Charlie looked at him "I've seen him cry" he clarified "seen him break down in all kinds of different ways, and he's seen me."

"I thought the Army was supposed to make you tough" Charlie said dismissively.

"I don't think that's true, or maybe it is for some people but you keep forgetting, your brother and I, we aren't regular Army, we're just a MASH unit, doctors forced against their will to dress up and play GI Joe. And believe me when I say, when you're up to your ankles in blood day in and day out you learn to really feel all those ugly emotions. You can only crush them down for so long because if you stop letting yourself feel the bad things you forget how to feel the good.

We get boys in here every day, some of them so shot up you almost forget there is a person under all the blood, and it's the ones who are crying and screaming or babbling like maniacs and fighting us every inch of the way, that survive, it's the quiet ones that you need to worry about, those people who are silent are usually so far gone no amount of stitching can put them back together."

Charlie was still, quiet, and a long silence passed between them.

"I'm scared" she finally said, her voice very small "I didn't want to be but I am… I am so scared, I feel like at any second something else horrible is going to happen." She finally looked back at Hawkeye "how about you?"

"For a second, when I saw him lying there, I thought…" he stopped himself, the idea of losing his best friend was too much to handle. "And now were trapped in here and… I, I don't do so well in small spaces… I can't breathe very well, no air you know…" His heart started to pound again, knocking against his ribs so hard it made his chest hurt.

"That's why you're sitting all the way over there?" Charlie asked, Hawkeye nodded as he focused on trying to slow his heart back down. "You know something?" She asked

"What?" Hawkeye replied, happy for the distraction.

"He asked me not to be mad at you, that you were just trying to do right by him." That distracted him, Hawkeye met Charlie's eye then looked down at B.J, he smiled suddenly.

"Beej" he said "I don't know why we thought we could get anything past him."

"What were we thinking?"Charlie said with a sad smile of her own, she suddenly shivered "bastard has my sweater" she mumbled hugging herself tighter. Hawkeye looked at her for a moment before he forced himself to take a deep breath and shuffled over to sit closer to her.

"Come here" he said, Charlie looked at him a moment then nestled into his side. Hawkeye's breath hitched for a moment and she pulled back.

"To close?" she said,

"No" he said definitively, trying, more than anything, to convince himself. He reached over and pulled her legs up over his own and wrapped his arms tightly around her little frame. She looked up at him for a moment before leaning in to kiss him. Hawkeye touched her jawline gently and let the kiss linger, perhaps a few seconds longer than he should have, savoring the moment. They broke apart almost simultaneously.

"Last time" she promised

"I wish it didn't have to be" Hawkeye said with a sigh. Charlie smiled and rested her head on his shoulder. He kept one arm protectively wrapped around her and reached down with the other to rouse B.J. He was already awake and looking up at Hawkeye. They caught each other's gaze and B.J slowly lifted his good hand up off his stomach, Hawkeye grabbed his hand and stared down at B.J. the two friends latched onto each other each one hanging onto the other for their own dear life, their grip steadily got tighter and tighter as each one felt like he was about to drift away.


	9. Chapter 9

**9**

There was clattering and muffled voices coming from outside. Hawkeye jolted out of his half-sleep to listen. He heard his own name being called and then B.J's.

"Charlie" he whispered. Charlie, who was curled up on the floor with her head in his lap, looked up at him.

"I hear them" she said "we're in here!" she shouted.

"Hey!" Hawkeye called "Back here!" Charlie sprang to her feet and darted between the rubble and out of sight calling out to the people breaking in after them. "Beej! They're here! I told you they wouldn't be long!" He gave B.J shake, he didn't respond to it and his head lolled. Hawkeye froze "Beej" he said shaking him more vigorously, still no response. He pressed his fingers against B.J's throat and paused a moment, he felt fear splash suddenly over him like ice water on a hot day, he couldn't find a pulse. Barely any breath, Hawkeye barely heard the sound of people coming towards them as he positioned himself over B.J's body and began to pump his chest.

"oh no you don't you bastard" he growled "you are not kicking the bucket because of a damn leg wound!" He heard a scream from the door and looked up quickly, Margaret, Father Mulcahy and Charlie "get her out of here!" Hawkeye demanded. The girl was near complete hysterics and fighting to get in as Father Mulcahy tried to guide her out. She screamed and lurched forward.

"Father!" Margaret shouted,

"Come on this is not the place for us right now" Mulcahy said calmly wrapping his arms tightly around the screaming Charlie and bodily dragging her outside.

The Chaplin was stronger than Charlie had expected and he all but carried her outside, once out she managed to break free of one arm though he still hung onto her with the other. She swung around with her free hand and backhanded the father across the face sending his hat flying. She gasped and clapped her hands to her mouth as she realized what she'd done.

"Oh my gosh" she choked "I'm sorry!" The father gave his head a shake.

"You've got a wicked left hook" he said blinking a few times then looking at the shaking girl who looked so very young right now. Her legs gave out and she fell to her knees, Father Mulcahy stepped forward to catch her. She sunk to the ground weeping into her hands and gasping for air. All he could do was rest a gentle hand on her back and wait for her to calm down.

After a few moments she managed to raise herself enough to look at him.

"pray with me, please?" She whispered.

"Of course" Father Mulcahy said as he bowed his head.

Inside Hawkeye was working on his twelfth set of alternating between pumping B.J's heart and breathing for him.

"You promised your sister you were going home" he begged "you aren't going there in a casket!" Margaret was standing with her hands clasped over her mouth as tears streamed down her face.

"Hawkeye" she whispered as she shuffled closer. Hawkeye ignored her and started in on the thirteenth set.

"Hawkeye, stop" She said gently taking his arm. He threw her off

"Let go" he snapped. His head was spinning from lack of oxygen and his arms were weak but this was his best friend and a young girls big brother, he wasn't about to let him off so easy.

"Hawkeye, it's over" Margaret's voice cracked with tears as she grabbed at his arms "he's gone" she said her voice strangled. Hawkeye gave one last desperate punch to the center of B.J's chest as Margaret pulled him back. He choked and tears ran down his face, he gasped and fell forwards resting his forehead on B.J's chest, he cried openly, not caring who saw.

Margaret curled herself around Hawkeye clinging to his shaking shoulders and crying herself, staring with wide shocked eyes at B.J's still form. Hawkeye's breath caught in between tears, and in that moment he felt B.J's chest rise ever so slightly. Hawkeye shot up so fast he almost knocked Margaret over.

"Beej" he whispered, not quiet daring to believe it, he put his hand out over B.J's mouth and felt the faint but unmistakable touch of breath, He checked for a pulse and found it pounding, weakly but clearly, under his fingertips. "He's alive!" Hawkeye said "his hearts beating and he's breathing! Take him! Go!" he shouted addressing the two corpsmen lingering around waiting for orders. In moments a stretcher was brought in, B.J was loaded onto it and hauled back to the 4077. Hawkeye fell back and pushed a hand through his hair, staring at the blood smear where his friend had just died then come back to life.

"Hawkeye" Margaret said gently kneeling beside him. He looked over at her not quite seeing her, she was grinning and wiping away the remaining tears "You did it" she said "come on, let's go home."

"Right" he said allowing himself to be pulled to his feet and out into open air. And for the first time all night, he could actually breathe.


	10. Chapter 10

**10**

B.J woke up slowly. His whole body was aching and heavy and his brain was so foggy he had trouble even remembering to breathe.

"Hey Captain" said a gentle voice above him. Nurse Kelly's sweet face hung over him, smiling "How are you feeling?" she asked. He honestly couldn't answer. He knew he was in pain but he was so groggy he didn't quite know where or just how much. Attempting to clear his mind of the drug induced haze B.J tried to focus on what hurt and why. Okay, his head, that was probably just from the anesthetic. Shoulder, right that had been dislocated hadn't it? Chest, more specifically ribs, those hurt a lot though he couldn't remember why. Leg. B.J's eyes flew open, suddenly awake.

"My leg" he said. Kelley placed a gentle hand on his shoulder.

"Its fine" she said "still there and in one piece. There wasn't really all that much damage."

B.J laid back against the pillow, the exertion had caused a spike of pain radiating from his ribs.

"Charlie?" he asked after a moment.

"She's fine too. She was pretty hysterical so they sedated her. Father Mulcahy is with her now." B.J nodded slowly, he felt his brain fading in and out as sleep crept back up on him. He blinked and looked at Kelley once more.

"Hawk?" Kelley smiled and gestured to B.J's other side. He turned to look and there was Hawkeye curled up on the bed next to him fast asleep.

"He only just passed out" Kelley informed him "he's been up with you the whole time." B.J smiled slowly. "He saved your life" Kelley said, but he already knew.

"Thanks" he whispered and let sleep take him, unable to fight it anymore.


	11. Chapter 11

**11**

"Count yourself lucky, kid" B.J said "your head wound got you one more day of hanging out with your old brother." Charlie smiled and hugged him again hanging on tightly not bothering to mention that she wasn't a kid. The Jeep was idling behind them in the compound waiting to take Charlie home, B.J was sitting in a wheelchair and Hawkeye was leaning on the handle bars with Father Mulcahy lingering nearby.

"You keep yourself in one piece Beej" she said quietly

"I'll try my best" B.J replied "still think Korea is safe?"

"You know, I never once said it was safe, I only ever said that it was equally as dangerous for you as for me" she gestured to him in the wheelchair "case and point."

"well, she got you there, wheels" Hawkeye said jokingly. Charlie looked up at Hawkeye for a moment then stepped around the wheelchair and wrapped her arms up around his neck one last time. He let go of B.J's wheelchair and gathered her up in his arms. He held her as tight as he dared and breathed in the smell of her hair, he kissed her quickly on the cheek

"goodbye, Charlotte" he whispered in her ear.

"bye Hawkeye. For now." She returned his quick kiss and he forced himself to let her go. She stepped back from him.

"see you" she said.

"Have a safe trip" Hawkeye replied. Charlie smiled at both of them.

"father" Charlie said turning to Mulcahy "thank you for everything."

"it was no trouble at all, even if you did beat me up" Mulcahy chuckled, gesturing to the bruise forming on his cheek. Charlie turned bright red and apologized again, Mulcahy just smiled calmly and reached out to rest a hand on her shoulder "bless you Charlotte." She stepped back and kissed B.J one more time.

"Love you Beej"

"Love you too kid. Hug and kiss Peg and Erin for me." Charlie nodded and jumped up into the Jeep. She smiled and waved

"Bye kid!" B.J called, Charlie shook her head and settled into her seat as the Jeep took off.

"You know, I didn't realize how much I missed her" B.J said.

"Your sister is a wonderful girl" Mulcahy said. Hawkeye pushed the wheel chair around and the three made their way towards the mess tent. Father Mulcahy was blinking and rubbing his head.

"Headache, father?" Hawkeye asked

"Yes" he said

"From that smack Charlie handed you?" B.J shook his head and laughed

"No" Mulcahy said "It's been the past couple of days actually." He took off his glasses, _no way _Hawkeye thought and he glanced down at B.J whose eyes were wide and glittering with glee. Father Mulcahy wiped off the lenses and put them back on as they opened the door to the mess tent "I think I may need a new prescription, my vision seems to be getting worse."


End file.
